Promoting movement in preschool communities
From 2010 to 2013, Herbert Renz-Polster and colleagues studied a participatory approach to physical-activity promotion in preschools. The program combined structured activity sessions with locally developed projects involving parents and educators.
The study protocol described a cluster-randomized trial designed to test both the effectiveness of the intervention and the processes through which it worked. The later trial report found improvements in measured physical activity and reductions in body fat, with effects differing by age and sex.
De Bock F, Fischer JE, Hoffmann K, Renz-Polster H. “A participatory parent-focused intervention promoting physical activity in preschools: design of a cluster-randomized trial.” BMC Public Health 10:49.
View the protocol on PubMed →De Bock F, Renz-Polster H. “Lassen sich Eltern für Bewegungsförderung im Kindergarten aktivieren? Ergebnisse der Evaluation eines partizipativen Elternbausteins” [Can parents be engaged in promoting physical activity in preschool? Evaluation of a participatory parent component]. Das Gesundheitswesen 73(08/09), A55. DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1283430.
The abstract reports on 37 preschools in Baden-Württemberg. Parents and educators developed locally adapted activity projects in moderated workshops. Additional changes at 12 months were reported in a per-protocol analysis, including less inactivity and more high-intensity activity; these findings should be read in light of that analysis and the abstract-only publication format.
Read the publisher’s abstract →De Bock F, Genser B, Raat H, Fischer JE, Renz-Polster H. “A participatory physical activity intervention in preschools: a cluster randomized controlled trial.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 45(1), 64–74.
View the trial on PubMed →Evaluating health-care data
Hospital quality reports can support public-health monitoring only if their data accurately represent clinical practice. A 2015 validation study examined whether German hospital reports could reliably be used to monitor Caesarean-section rates.
Renz-Polster H, Krahl A, Reiter R, De Bock F. “Caesarean section in German hospitals: validity of hospital quality report data for monitoring C-section rates.” Das Gesundheitswesen 77(2), 94–99.
View the study on PubMed →Childhood allergy epidemiology
Earlier epidemiological work examined whether birth by Caesarean section was associated with allergic disorders in childhood. As an observational cohort study, it identifies associations rather than establishing that mode of delivery directly causes later allergy.
Renz-Polster H et al. “Caesarean section delivery and the risk of allergic disorders in childhood.” Clinical & Experimental Allergy 35(11), 1466–1472.
View the study on PubMed →Children and SARS-CoV-2 transmission
During the COVID-19 pandemic, an evidence review considered the role children played in transmission within schools and preschools. It synthesized the evidence available at the time; its conclusions belong to that specific and rapidly changing phase of the pandemic.
Renz-Polster H, De Bock F. “What role do children in school and kindergarten settings play in transmitting SARS-CoV-2? An evidence-based perspective.” Bundesgesundheitsblatt 64, 1493–1500.
View the review on PubMed →